Eleven months on from the first round of hearings for the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, Commissioner Hayne’s final report has been released.

Aged Care Royal CommissionSetting the tone for the Aged Care Royal Commission

Last week’s hearings for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, introduced the leaders of some of Australia’s peak bodies, unions, consumer organisations and the Secretary to the Department, Glenys Beauchamp. In all 26 witnesses were called.

The 2019 Biotechnology Industry Position survey conducted by Ausbiotech and supported by Grant Thornton has revealed that new technologies across regenerative medicine and medicinal cannabis are disrupting the industry, and Australia's global strength in clinical trials continues to drive contributions to the economic and social fabric of the country.

mid-sized business reportManufacturing is critical to our economy – how can we support the sector?

Although the knock-on effects of the Australian automotive industry exiting our country are yet to be fully understood, the industry is evolving, and manufacturing continues to be a major employer and critical to our overall economy.

There is a lot of noise around the property sector at the moment – and it’s not all positive. Prices are down – but this shouldn’t be a surprise when some markets (namely Sydney & Melbourne) saw unprecedented hikes in recent years.

The South Australian Treasurer, Tom Koutsantonis, commenced his budget speech on 18 June 2015 by declaring that “this government is embarking on the most comprehensive state tax reform in South Australia’s history”, which will make the State “a beacon for business investment”.

Specifically, the 2015-16 State Budget forecasts a return to surplus, while delivering:

A total infrastructure spend of $10.8 billion over four years, including

$3.3 billion on health facilities

$1.4 billion on road projects

$1.7 billion on water projects

$353 million on public transport

$216 million on education facilities

$197 million on the Adelaide Festival Centre precinct

A $985 million stimulus package, which includes:

a tax reform package that provides almost $670 million in tax reductions (over four years) by restructuring business taxes to help businesses invest, grow and create jobs

an injection of a further $315 million (over four years) into growth industries and targeted infrastructure projects, with the aim of stimulating the economy and creating jobs

Tax Reform

The cost of doing business in South Australia is set to fall substantially as a result of the State Government’s $670 million tax reform package.

Importantly, South Australia wants to become the first Australian jurisdiction to make all business property transactions tax-free by 1 July 2018.

The government has also confirmed that it has no plans to tax foreign investment, impose a broad-based land tax on residential property or introduce any other taxes.

remove the requirement that substantially all assets be transferred in a reconstruction to qualify for relief

amend the ‘corporate group’ definition for consistency with other jurisdictions

remove the requirement that the corporate group satisfy the association test for a period of three years - pre the reconstruction and a further three years post the reconstruction (effective from 18 June 2015)

phasing out stamp duty on non-residential property transfers, by:

reducing duty rates by one third from 1 July 2016

reducing duty rates by a further one third from 1 July 2017 before abolishing by 1 July 2018

removing the $1 million landholder model threshold for transfers of control in landholding entities, which, in conjunction with other announcements, will result in duty only being payable on the transfer of control in entities which own residential and primary production land (effective from 1 July 2018)

Other stamp duty reforms include:

introducing concessional stamp duty (capped at $1,000) on the transfer of retention tenements (effective from 18 June 2015)

abolishing stamp duty on the transfer of mining exploration licences and mining tenements (effective from 1 July 2018)

expanding the stamp duty exemption for farms transferred between family members to include transfers to certain trusts (effective from the date the legislation receives royal assent)

expanding the definition of family groups for duty purposes to include de facto couples and domestic partners (effective from the date the legislation receives royal assent)

introducing legislative stamp duty exemptions (to replace ex gratia relief) for disability service providers, incapacitated persons, as well as property donations to charities (effective from the date the legislation receives royal assent)

introducing an exemption from conveyance duty on the transfer of properties into Special Disability Trusts for no consideration and for use as the principal place of residence of the beneficiary (effective from 1 July 2015)

Other tax related announcements include:

increasing land tax thresholds by approximately 2.5%, thus increasing the tax-free threshold from $316,000 to $323,000 (effective from 1 July 2015)

introducing an exemption from land tax on properties held in Special Disability Trusts (effective from 1 July 2015)

extending the small business payroll tax rebate (of up to $9,800) available to employers with a taxable payroll of $1.2m or less to the 2015-16 year

amending the law to require a 50% payment of any tax in dispute (instead of 100% payment) before an appeal is able to be lodged (effective from the date the legislation receives royal assent)

introducing legislative relief for motor vehicle registration fees for vehicles used to transport incapacitated minors, to replace ex gratia relief (effective from the date the legislation receives royal assent)

abolishing the Save the River Murray Levy (effective from 1 July 2015)